A barking sheep-dog told her of some one's approach, and in relief she
went out to meet him, for she was restless and impatient of any delay.
But instead of the lumbering old French Canadian she saw the Dago Duke
coming leisurely from a near-by coulee, picturesque in the unpicturesque
garb of a sheep-herder.
If there was no welcoming smile upon her face the Dago Duke was the last
person to be embarrassed by the omission.
"Ah, 'Angels unawares' and so forth." The Dago Duke swept his hat from
his head in a low bow. "A rare pleasure, Doctor, to return and find a
lady----"
She flushed at the mocking emphasis.
"Cut that out; any fool can be sarcastic."
"You surprise and pain me. If it is sarcasm to refer to you as a
lady----?"
"Where's Dubois?"
He waved his hand toward the coulee and she walked away.
The Dago Duke looked after her with an expression of amused speculation
in his handsome eyes. What deviltry was she up to now?
"Addio, mia bella Napoli," he whistled. "Addio! addio!" What difference
did it make so long as she confined her activities to Dubois?--since he
had no more liking for one than the other.
The Dago Duke had applied to Dubois for work as a sheep-herder and got
it.
After the memorable midnight session with pink lizards and the Gila
monster, the Dago Duke applied for work as a sheep-herder and got it,
chiefly because of his indifference to the question of wages.
"I want to get away from the gilded palaces of vice and my solicitous
friends; I want to lead the simple, virtuous life of a sheep-herder
until my system recovers from a certain shock," explained the applicant
glibly, "and something within me tells me that you are not the man to
refuse a job to a youth filled with such a worthy ambition."
Dubois grinned understandingly and gave him work at half a
sheep-herder's usual pay.
Whatever the nature of Dr. Harpe's business with his employer, the
interview appeared to have been eminently satisfactory to them both, for
she was smiling broadly, while Dubois seemed not only excited but elated
when they returned together.
He looked after her buggy as she drove away, and chuckled--
"Ha--she brings me good news--zat woman!"
While the Dago Duke was warming up the fried potatoes and bacon, which
remained from breakfast, over the rusty camp-stove, Dubois was diving
under his bunk for a box from which he produced a yellowed shirt and
collar, together with a suit of black clothes, nearly new.
"Per Iddio! 'Tis the Day of Judgment and you've gotten inside
information!" jeered the Dago Duke.
Dubois showed his yellowed teeth.
"Mais oui, 'eet is ze Resurrection."
"I swear, you look like Napoleon, Dubois!" gibed the Dago Duke, when he
was fully arrayed.
"Why not?" The Frenchman's face wore a complacent smirk. "Ze Little
Corporal, _he_ married a queen."
The frying-pan of fried potatoes all but dropped from the Dago Duke's
hand, while his employer enjoyed to the utmost the amazement upon his
face.
"The lady doc?"
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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